Contact-shoe for automatic train-stops



M. B. BULLA.

CONTACT SHOE FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN STOPS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1919.

1,335,275, Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

WITNESSES INVENTOR Mai/405% ii. 22 3M 4 Arron/ms MELBERN BERNIE BULLA, OF EL PASO, TEXAS.

CONTACT-SHOE FOR AUTOMATIC TRAIN-STOPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ma1n30, 1920.

Application filed July 2, 1919. Serial No. 308,108. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MELBERN B. BULLA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of El Paso, in the county of El Paso and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved Contact-Shoe for Automatic Train-Stops, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to automatic train stops and has particular reference to an improved contact shoe to be carried by a locomotive or some other part of a moving train for cooperation with any suitable brush or track appliance arranged along the railway.

More specifically stated the invention pertains to that type of devices covered by Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,285,556, of November 19, 1918, with respect to the track or signal connections, and to the subject matter of my copending application of even date herewith Serial No. 308,107, with respect to the devices carried on the train and particularly within view of the locomotive driver.

Among the special objects of this improvement is to provide a shoe to be carried on or by the locomotive or the truck of some other part of the train, for cooperation with the relatively fixed brush or track appliance, and having the function of making infallible a proper electrical contact with the brush irrespective of'any accumulations of sand, snow, ice or the like that might coat or clog the brush and prevent a proper contact so as to initiate without fail the grounding of the magnets carried by the train appliances and insuring the stopping of the train when it should be stopped.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrange ment and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation showing diagrammatically a portion motive equipped with my improved contact shoe and indicating its relation to the brush or track appliance.

of the train or loco-' Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the same, the hangers for the shoe being in section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the shoe complete but detached from the locomotive.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings I show a track appliance, referred to herein as a brush 10 fixed along a track 11. This brush is of electrical nature, comprising a multiplicity of wire bristles of which a conductor 12 leads to a suitable ground or to any desired signal appliances.

To the truck frame 13 or other suitable support constituting a portion of the train I connect one or more hangers 14 each having horizontally projected cars 15 through which vertically disposed rods or bolts 16 project and through which the elevation of the hangers may be accurately and reliably determined by the use of nuts 17 threaded upon the bolts 16 both above and below the ears 15, and which serve to lock the hangers at the desired elevation.

From the nature of the brush 10, the bristles thereof projecting upward and unprotected from the elements it is probable that it is apt to become obstructed with sand in sandy countries, with snow and .ice in cold countries, or with other commodities or conditions that might make it unreliable for proper electrical contact with the ground or the signaling devices. There is also to be taken into account the fact that practically all parts of the railway train except possibly the wheels and axles are subject more or less to lateral vibration or swaying with respect to the brush or other fixed objects along the track. In fact I know from my extensive experience as a practical railway man that many proposed safety stops have been condemned for the reason thattheir operation was dependent upon a freedom from lateral swaying of the railway train, a condition that cannot be relied upon.

In view of the foregoing conditions I provide a shoe 18 somewhat in the nature of a plow, the same including a forward section 19 and a trailing section 20. The leading or forward section 19 comprises a substantially flat plate arranged in a vertical plane but inclined to the vertical plane of the track, the leading edge or end of said plate being the nearer to the track and so spaced therefrom that it will strike the brush at a point at or just within the rear inner corner at 10, subject however to any lateral vibration or swaying of the train. As shown especially in Fig. 2 the inclination of the vertical plane of the plate 19 with respect to the track 11 insures that the lower edge of the plate 19 will pass over or through the brush with a combined forward and lateral movement or sweep, the effect of which will be to actually plow its way through the bristles or wires of the brush and dislodge therefrom any accumulations of foreign matter such as referred to above and so laying bare the wire bristles for direct electrical contact with the trailing portion 20 of the shoe which lies mainly in a horizontal plane and which consequently will glide or wipe over said exposed brush bristles after the accumulations of snow, ice or the like have been removed therefrom. The rear end 21 of the shoe is preferably upturned somewhat to facilitate the movement of the train over the brush when running backward.

The parts 19 and 20 are preferably made integral and from any suitable metal such as brass, or its equivalent. This device is connected to the hangers 1a by means of bolts 22, or their equivalent, passed through any selected holes 23 formed in the hangers so as to establish the proper elevation for the shoe.

If desired a removable wear plate 24 may be secured to the lower edge of the shoe, the same being indicated in Fig. 3 as having a slight forward as well as lateral pitch provi ding a better entrance point 24; for facilitating the cutting of the shoe as a plow through the brush. This auxiliary plate 24 may include also a rearward projection 25 extending throughout the length of the extension or trailing portion 20 above described. The auxiliary plate may be made of brass or any other suitable material. The

conductor 26 is connected in any suitable manner to any selected part of the shoe and leads hence to the appliances carried by the locomotive.

I claim:

1. The herein described shoe for automatic train stops for cooperation with a brush contact device, said shoe comprising a plate and means to support the plate in fixed position with respect to the train and holding the same in a vertical plane inclined with respect to the vertical plane of the track, the leading edge of the plate being adapted to strike the contact device at its rear corner nearest to the track while the remaining portion of the shoe plate will scrape through and wipe over practically all ofthe contact device.

2. In an automatic train stop, the combination with a fixed track contact brush having exposed bristles, of a shoe carried in fixed position upon the train, said shoe comprising a vertical plate arranged in a vertical plane inclined with respect to the track and adapted to cut through and wipe over practically all of said bristles, said shoe including also a trailing portion arranged essentially in a horizontal plane at about the level of the lower edge of the vertical portion.

3. In a contact shoe for automatic train stops, the combination of leading and trailing portions arranged in vertical and horizontal planes respectively, the vertical plane being inclinedwith respect to the track while the portion in the horizontal plane lies in substantally the plane of the lower edge of the vertical portion and parallel to the track, and hanger means to support said shoe at any desired elevation upon a part of the train.

at. The herein described contact shoe comprising integral leading and trailing portions arranged in planes at an angle to each other and with the leading portion arranged at an oblique angle to the trailing portion, and means to support the shoe at any desired elevation upon a portion of the train.

MELBERN BERNIE BULLA. 

